Betrayed - By Ellie Jones Page 0,1
and watched the bubbles.
“Well it means a lot to me. Where on earth did you dig it from?”
“Aunt Moll’s. It was amongst the stuff when we cleared the house. She was a hoarder you know, kept anything and everything. There were boxes everywhere. To be honest, I was on the point of throwing it away with the other junk, but spotted the samples and thought of you.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“I thought to myself, my friend Kat, she might like this… It’s okay then?”
“It’s more than okay. It’s brill!”
“Moll used to prattle on when I was a kid, telling me tales about her grandmother… I loved it. You know how kids love stories… daft stuff... I think she had the book from her. I’ve no idea where she had it from though, but I know it’s as old as the hills. You can tell by the look of it can’t you.”
“I know. It looks as if Moses made it.”
A sheet of fine paper covered one of the samples. Kat carefully peeled it away, and revealed the delicate fabric beneath. It looked new, as if it had been made yesterday. Childlike, she touched the fabric, letting it hang over her fingers. It clung rather than hung… almost liquid, and seemed to shimmer in the light.
“Good then?”
“Good?” Kat said, “It isn’t good, it’s fantastic! I think something like this would really add wow-factor to my outfits.”
“I’m sure it would. And just think what it will do for you.”
***
Eduardo rubbed his nose.
It was a bad sign. Rafael learned a long time ago that Eduardo rubbing his nose meant trouble. He said hurriedly, “Like I say, nothing can go wrong. I mean; you have to admit I know my stuff. No-one knows the rag-trade better than I do.”
“Don’t they?”
“You know they don’t. I’m the one. I’m the best… and I’m telling you, it’s like nothing I’ve seen before. Man, this stuff is the finest.”
“What about balance sheets, market plans, forward projections?”
“Jeez!” Rafael pulled a face. “You’re a hard bitch. Look! These are unknown factors at the moment. It’s a winner though, and I’m sure that…”
“A winner? And just what do you mean by that?”
”I’m telling you. I feel it. Gut instinct says ‘go for it baby’. You know I know my stuff and…”
Eduardo put up a hand to stop him. “You’re asking for a bagful of money, with nothing to back it up. No collateral, no plan, nothing. If the job screws up, if you screw up, what is there? Naff all.”
“Why are you talking like this?”
“It won’t be the first time you’ve messed-up on a job.”
Rafael stared at him, hardly believing Eduardo was taking this attitude. He said slowly, “Well stuff you!”
Eduardo shrugged.
Rafael breathed in deeply. It was slithering away from him. He stared around, suddenly despondent. The office looked out over the busy streets of Valencia. Down there, way below, people scurried, traffic blared, exhausts fumed. Up here, it was calm, peaceful - except for the bile rising between them. On the walls were a couple of original watercolours by some artist whose style he recognized, but crap-knows from where. The office furnishings were sparse; chrome and leather, modern. A calendar hung behind Eduardo, no markings on it. His own calendar was scribbled to high heaven. No wall-charts to be found here, not in this high-tech office, it was paperless, everything on computer, all white, chrome, and damn-all soul.
What happened if there was a power cut? Would Eduardo’s commerce die? Well stuff Eduardo! He hoped they had a power failure every day.
He said carefully, “Okay, I might have got a couple of things wrong in the past. Not this time though… Look… Come with me. See for yourself. You’ll change your mind. I know you will.”
“And what about your Papá?”
Jeez! Rafael held his breath. When was this mess-up going to end? It was a farce. He knew he must sound desperate, but what else, what other way to do it? He tried to be nonchalant. “Damn Papá!”
“Isn’t he the one you should be trying to convince? My interests lie in hotels, not clothes. Fashion just isn’t my scene.”
Rafael’s stomach churned. He didn’t know how to turn the situation around. He wanted to, he badly wanted this thing to happen, but hadn’t a clue how to go about it. He’d been on cloud nine since his discovery and assumed that everything would fall into place. The cloud was drifting away.
He’d convinced himself that Eduardo would jump at the chance. He hadn’t and Rafael didn’t